Ideas and Hopes for Vancouver

Here are some of the issues I hope to address in my candidacy and with my time on council. This list is not exhaustive and will shift and change over time but the values that inform them will not. If you have any questions about my thoughts on any issue please get in touch:

REnter REPRESENTATION

Renters comprise more than 50% of Vancouver households and yet very few renters sit on Vancouver City Council. With a vacancy rate below 1%, renters deserve more representation to support the creation of more rental homes and to also ensure renters rights are protected.

The region is a solution

Vancouver’s problems are bigger than the city itself; the housing and opioid crises don't end at our municipal borders. Effective government and effective solutions will mean working with our neighbours, improving our relationships to each other, and moving forward together. This includes local First Nations and the Urban Indigenous community.

poverty is not a crime

While forces of inequity cause people to sleep on sidewalks and in cars and tent cities, their right to exist in these spaces is often called into question or criminalized through anti-homeless, anti-poor bylaws and other dehumanizing strategies that deny them basic human dignity. The City must ensure that its actions don’t further harm or stigmatize those living in precarious housing and shelter situations.

YES FUN CITY

Vancouver's heart and soul are found in its people and in its arts and cultural communities. From our street festivals like Khatsahlano, Greek and Italian Days, and Vaisakhi to the work of Youth Collaborative for Chinatown and BEATS Magazine, these things people together across cultures and generations. We don't need to fight for beauty, we just need to work to recognize and celebrate it and do more for our artists and arts and cultural groups so that they can continue to inspire us.

I acknowledge that this work is occurring on unceded Indigenous land belonging to the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.